A property valuation is an assessment of your property’s value, based on the location, condition and multiple other factors. Your valuation will be carried out in person by a professional surveyor who will take notes and photographs, and then send you a valuation report.

A property valuation is not to be confused with a mortgage valuation, which is also known as a lender’s valuation. A mortgage valuation is conducted when you apply for a mortgage. The lender will carry out their own valuation of the property, to check the property is worth what you are paying for it. The mortgage company may also choose to carry out a lender’s valuation if you are remortgaging, to ensure the property is worth what you claim. Mortgage valuation is for the benefit of the lender, it is limited and only provides information for your bank, so that they can understand whether the property is adequate security in comparison to the amount of loan you are asking for.

There are various reasons why a property is being valued:

• Buying or selling property: valuation of a property is important when buying or selling a property. The rent of a property is usually 6-10% of the estimated price of the property.
• From taxation: valuation of a property is important when calculating the tax of a property as taxes include wealth tax, property tax, ground rent tax, vacant land tax etc which will have to be paid    to various government departments. 
• For transfer of a property: valuation of a property is important if a person wishes to transfer property as it’ll be needed to estimate the value of the property. 

There are two main reasons why property valuation is important:

1. To learn what price you should ask for: it helps you ask a fair asking price based on the current value of your home.  It’s recommended that you get at least 3 independent valuations with different estate agents or independent valuers, this is so you can understand the true value of your property. 
2. Calculating your budget for your next move: once you establish the asking price of your property, you can then calculate what you will be able to afford during your move.